A top evangelical Christian adviser to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said on Monday he believes Texas Gov. Rick Perry's campaign may be intentionally injecting the issue of Romney's Mormon faith into the Republican presidential primary.

"A week ago I would have said there's no way, I can't conceive of a major candidate's campaign intentionally using such tactics," said Mark DeMoss, an Atlanta-based public relations executive who works primarily with evangelical leaders and is an unpaid adviser to Romney. "It was inconceivable to me that that could be the case, just because I think it's not smart politically."

But Demoss told The Huffington Post that the actions of Texan Baptist Pastor Robert Jefress — who first thrust the Mormonism issue into the campaign 10 days ago — have given him "doubt" about whether the Perry campaign is as removed from attacks on Romney's faith as it has tried to appear.

"I would have bet money when Robert Jeffress surfaced there in Washington and then started going on TV programs that somebody would have gotten him to stop doing interviews. And he did them for a couple days," DeMoss said. "That's what made me question it whether they wanted him doing it or not. If they didn't want him doing it, I think they could have stopped him from doing it. I think they would have asked him and said, 'This isn't helping us.'"

Ward also notes the report that evangelical figure David Lane, a Perry ally, was reportedly happy about the Jefress comments.

The Perry camp denied to Ward playing any role in fanning the flames.

The question has come up in political circles and among Romney supporters as to whether there is dog-whistling going on over the candidate's Mormonism. At a minimum, DeMoss is creating an equal and opposite reaction.